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Sluagh
History The slaugh were born from night terrors and dread in the first human settlements in the forests of Eastern Europe. After the Sundering, they were the only kith who could naturally see and converse with ghosts. They formed a compact with the Tuatha de Danaan to frighten children but never truly harm them, a secret that would be kept for 169 generations. Parents become thier unspoken allies as they tortured naughty children into better behavior, offering chiminage of sour mild and moldy bread. As the sluagh moved westward, they met the trolls who despite a cool disdain, inducted them into the Seelie Court. Then one Highsummer Night, a curse was cast upon them by the Tuatha de Daanan for the breaking of their oath and their voices were stripped away, leaving them unable to speak above a whisper. During the Anglo-Saxon conquests in the early 5th century, the sluagh began to emigrate to Great Britain. They began to terrorize not just children but corrupt and greedy adults. A growing bitterness was settling into the kith and many of them shifted into the Unseelie Court and the sluagh's reputation among the Fae and mortals darkened. In Great Britain, the relationship between the sluagh and ghosts became somewhat symbiotic. The Redcaps and sluagh had no such rapport, however. They clashed often and violently. The Shattering brought no better relations between the sluagh and the other kith. They served as scapegoats for of frustration and hate including a widespread belief among the other kiths that the sluagh were at least partially to blame for the Shattering itself. After the Industrial Revolution, more of the sluagh took to the city to crawl the sewers and skulk in shadows. The way the factories twisted the landscape and the children with horrific child labor. As the banality tore apart the dreams and lives of those children, many sluagh lost their own hope and became Undone. Others turned to the children of the rich and priviledged, torturing both the good and bad. They also found jobs and dreamers among the literary and spiritualism movements of the era. The Victorian era created a new kind of sluagh- dignified, reserved, and thriving on mystery and secrets. After The Resurgence Sluagh soothsayers had predicted at least some of the consequences of the lunar landing but their warnings of imminent change had been dismissed and mocked by the other kithain until it started to happen. Only a handful of Seelie sluagh accepted the sidhe's demands for vassalage in the first days after the Resurgence. The Night of Iron Knives took even the sluagh by surprise however and the ghosts of the murdered found their way to several influential sluagh. They used their information network to spread their word throughout the kithain world and were instrumental in getting the word out. Unseelie assassins struck out with a vengeance on the sidhe. When David Ardry and Queen Mab led the kithain to peace, the sluagh slipped back to their shadows. The Sluagh Lifestyle While most of the kith think sluagh gruesome servants of the Dark that should not be trusted. They are secretive, reclusive and strange. They are the incarnations of what humans find macabre and sinister. The Victorian era is a source of their inspiration and they love to dress in top hats and lace and host teas. They exist in the fringe of both human and kithain society, needed but rarely wanted. Bookish, secretive and formal, sluagh will sell lore and information to other kithain but only when approached with respect. Sluagh can shade the truth or be cyrptic but they are generally honest and when they give their word, it is sacrosanct. Even the Unseelie hold tightly to the idea against swearing falsehoods and will bring down a fellow sluagh who does so. In Newport, some sluagh have deep relationships with certain ghosts, ratkin, corax or vampires- especially those who love to trade in information. Sluagh also thrive as assassins, couriers, spies, interrogators and terrorists. All sluagh thrive on unpleasant food and drink. High tea is a somewhat festive event where sluagh swap information and establish a kind of social pecking order. The sluagh don't tend to have friends outside of the kith, just aquaintances, however. They are capable of romantic impulses though they tend to have a gloomy-goth perspective and usually shy from any real connection. When a pair of sluagh do settle into each other's company it tends to be monogamous and for life. Seelie vs Unseelie Sluagh don't often switch legacies and to have strong contempt for the opposing Court. Unseelie sluagh are more social, making appearances at clubs or freeholding if doing so will provide an immediate benefit. They harrass each other violently but never in front of other kiths. When confronted with outsiders, sluagh tend to close ranks fast. Cold iron is rarely brought into play; sluagh of both courts consider chimerical murder of each other as sufficient. Talking about the hidden war between the Seelie and Unseelie sluagh to outsiders is taboo and can lead to more permanant death. Affinity Prop Birthrights *Squirm- Sluagh can contort themselves with supernatural ease, even to worm through the bars of a locked cell. They cannot wiggle out of cold iron or in the presence of mortals or the unenchanted. Contortions require a few minutes to accomplish and a roll of Dexterity + Athletics (dif 6-10 depending on complexity). * *Sharpened Senses- Sluagh have exceptionally heightened senses. They have a -2 difficulty to any Perception roll (minimum of 3). They can see through illusions by making a roll of Perception + Alertness (dif 7). Frailities *Curse of Silence- Sluagh cannot speak above a whisper and have very odd rules rules of ettiquette, adding +2 difficulty to their social rolls. In their mortal seeming, sluagh will still sound extremely soft-spoken if not an actual whisper. go to the Changeling Main Page or go to the Kiths of Gwent page